Lessons, reading,
Learning, eating!
Feeding body, mind and soul
With the work I love to hold,

Only then to give away
The things that fill each joyous day
To someone needing comfort, care–
In weaving, writing,
Circles, squares!

—
I always enjoy Walt’s prompts over atdVerse,
and this one is no exception. We’re asked to write of either drought or deluge. I’ve experienced both on many levels, and each takes a different art of balancing! This current deluge is a positive one. 🙂

1. As cultures, families, and friends,
We have some common threads for sure.
They give us things to talk about and help our bonds to form.
But no matter what we think and say
Or do that looks the same,
Our common threads are different players in a special game.
So
Refrain:

2. Religions, hobbies, work, and life,
They give us common threads to hold,
Connecting us through chaos and confusion in the cold.
But no matter what we pick and choose
That looks the same to you,
We add a special touch to our corner of the truth.
So
Refrain:

3. There is one Spirit in us all.
It’s the common thread that’s real;
The God who weaves our tapestry and lets us live and feel.
And no matter what we find in life,
Our threads are in His hand.
The Spirit won’t unravel, and the work is always grand!
But
Refrain:

No, don’t expect our threads to look the same.

Refrain:
Don’t expect our threads to look the same
As they intertwine with others in play.
Like everyone in fact,
They travel on a path.
But we see and hear and touch and know within a narrow frame.
So don’t expect our threads to look the same.

People often tease me because I braid or twist things more easily away from me, rather than working toward me. So, when I braid ends or twist fringes, I hold the ends in my mouth. The standard comment is, “Are you eating yarn again?” And I say, “Well, fiber is good for you!” 🙂

What causes our experiences of taste? Our subconscious mind, and the patterns, beliefs and experiences stored there. I think most of us would agree that popcorn tastes better than yarn. But could someone enjoy the taste of yarn? Yes, someone could, and for myself I’ve come to look upon the bits that get into my mouth with humor. I may not be able to braid or twist moving toward myself. But hey, I can braid and I can twist, so nothing is wrong here.

But that taste? It’s so much more than just a taste. It’s a whole lot of things, rolled up into what we experience as taste. Mostly, it’s beliefs.

If the popcorn were ice cream, what might some of us think?

* Ice cream tastes good.

* It’s smooth.

* It’s cold.

* It’s creamy.

* Eating ice cream feels refreshing on a hot day.

Now watch, this is where the unproductive ones start, if they haven’t already!

* That ice cream is going right to my hips!

* It tastes good, but now I have to walk it off.

* What price do I have to pay for this little pleasure?

And now, suddenly the ice cream is bad…? Yet it felt pretty good when we focused on the fun stuff?

The taste of fiber – if you will – is like everything else. We create our own reality. In an ultimate sense, we are one with all things – the popcorn, the yarn, the ice cream. And we can choose how we experience them.

I could gripe about how I can’t hold my braiding ends on the edge of a table “like everyone else does”. I could complain about it so much that I don’t even want to braid anymore. And I could quit an activity that could have been really fun and rewarding.

Or I could laugh about how funny it is to get that little bit of extra fiber! How others will always remember my crafts because who would ever forget seeing someone with braids in their mouth?

I could eat the popcorn, or the ice cream, and reflect on good, funny things like this. Or I could let them be a catalyst for creating more negativity.

The choice is mine.

You see which I’ve chosen.

And now, as always, the choice is yours!

You may not find braiding or weaving or “creative arts” appealing. But you do eat! SO will you eat with gratitude, humor and joy? Will you allow yourself that pleasure? If you will, Universal God-Mind will respond with more goodness, fun, light-heartedness and also bring you people who radiate those qualities.

Try it! Next time you eat something you enjoy, but your pre-programmed thoughts say you shouldn’t, do this:

Bless what you will eat, with positive feelings. Eat it, enjoying the taste, the texture, the smell and any other elements you identify. If you have a negative thought, gently let it go, and find a positive one. Eventually your good ole’ subconscious will get the idea, and start supplying positive thoughts for you. Until it does, it can be gently guided, with love, expectation, peace and yes, humor!

I started weaving this shrug/wrap on the 3rd, the day after I joyfully signed my vows and agreements. It was finished 4/6, the day before my first Sunday “as a minister”. It was a fun project with special meaning to me.

Originally I planned to weave the Shrug in Leno from The Weaver’s Idea Book by Jane Patrick. But there is a reason why we ask in affirmative prayer for “this, or something better!” I didn’t get “this” pattern, but I got something much better!

All this is :), is 2 pieces. The back piece is long enough to wrap over my shoulders with the fringe touching my upper arms. It has no sleeves, but the sides of the back act almost like capped sleeves.

The front piece is all leno lace. You set up the rigid heddle loom as you would to weave any tabby or plain weave cloth. But as you weave, you pick up and twist groups of threads, locking the twist in place as the shuttle carries the weft back and forth. This is not complicated! Some would say it’s slow, but I felt it wove up quickly, and I had fun – which explains a lot!

I tell you this is not complicated, and it’s not. But the first day I started weaving, I just could not get my mind or my fingers wrapped around what the cloth “should” look like. I’ve never touched leno until now, so I had no idea what I was actually striving to weave. So I stopped, temporarily, and wove a third of the back in plain weave. Fine.

Next day the leno worked great! I still didn’t know, from previous tactile experience, what I was supposed to weave. But I didn’t care. I kept on with it, which taught me again, that we don’t need to know the “how” or the means by which everything will work out. All we need to know, is that it will work out!

SO the second third of the back is in leno, and I felt a sense of accomplishment weaving it. It’s truly a beautiful texture!

The last third, like the first, is plain weave.

Added to the front piece that is all leno, this shrug is my favorite handwoven piece! I wear many of my handwovens, but this one is extra special.

In deciding how to connect the front and back, I had many ideas. I’m grateful for them all and I know I’ll use them in future projects! Chinese knot buttons, beads, standard buttons, ties, cords, plied, twisted or knotted fringe, netting, crocheting, sewing… There are more ways to join 2 pieces than there are pieces to join! 😀

But the idea that stuck was the most natural thing in the world to me. When I was little I got a necklace for Easter. It had plastic lambs strung with beads between them. A sheep-lover all my life, I adored that necklace! And I cried and cried the day it broke. But something made either my mom or me save the lambs from that necklace.

I found them in my jewelry box the night I finished this piece and actually said out loud, “Wow! That’s it!”

Now, one lamb is sewn on each side of the back piece. They lay on my shoulders when I wear this. The leno creates holes in the front piece, so I just put the lambs through some leno on each side. And there you have it.

All is not lost! Leno does work. My sheep live on. And I have something to wear that makes me smile and laugh – and yes, cry a little too, with amazement at how things do work together for our good.

And if it works in these “little things,” how much more does it work in great things?